Blood-collecting assembly



Unlted States Patent George R. Ryan 1431 Henry Place, Waukegan, Illinois60085 [21] AppLNo. 779,478

Nov.27, 1968 Dec. 8, 1970 [72] Inventor [22] Filed [45] Patented [S4]BLOOD-COLLECTING ASSEMBLY through the stopper.

3,123,073 3/1964 Barr,Sr.etal................

PATENTEU nEc s am vention;

. l I BLOOD-COLLECTING ASSEMBLY BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field ofthe Invention This invention relates to the art of collecting blood. 2.Description of the Prior Art Various assemblies have been used in thecollection of blood. The use of evacuated containerssuch as tubes inwhich blood is collected has been found to be quite useful in that theblood readily flows into the space in the tube, no venting of the tubeis required in that there is no air to displace, and becausea relativelyinexpensive glass tube and rubber stopper are 'not only sufficient tomaintain the tube in the evacuated state until it is used but the glasstube and rubber stopper serve to contain the collected blood and seal itoff from the ambient conditions. When the blood is ready to becollected, it has been" found desirable to cause thecannula toipartiallySUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The purpose of the invention 'is to provideasimple, lowcost, easy-to-use, and reliable blood-collecting assembly.The assembly ofthe invention has a simple holder for the cannula, and asimple stopper for the tube. The stopper and the tube are freelyinsertable into a tubereceiving portion of the holder in any angularposition and can be freely rotated relative to the holder. The holderhas a stop surface and the stopper has a stop surface. Before thevenepuncture is made these stop surfaces can be rapidly brought upagainst each other to cause one end of the cannula to penetrate thestopper to an extend insufficient to establish communication between thecannula and the inside of the tube, andthen thetube and its stopper arerotated to bring these stop surfaces out of alinement with each other.Now the venepuncture is made with the other end of the cannula, and thetube and its stopper are movedrelative to each other so that the one endof the cannula penetrates through the stopperto allow the patients bloodto flow into the tube.

Other features of the invention will become apparent from the followingdetailed description and the accompanying drawing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is an elevational view showing aholder and cannula in accordance with one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevational view of an evacuated blood collecting tube,together with a stopper constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the holder and cannula shown FIG. 7 is asectional view of a holder and cannula, together with a stopper and afragmentary portion of an evacuated tube, in accordance with analternative embodimentof the in- FIG. 8 is ili seciid iai view takenalong Iiiie 8-8 a? FIG. 7; and FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken alongline 9-9 of FIG. 7..

DESC IPTION OFTIIE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIGS. land 2 ofthedrawing, there is shown a blood collecting assembly generally indicatedat 10 including a holder 11 for a cannula 12 and a rigid evacuatedcontainer or tube 13 having stopper 14 closing off its one end. The headof the stopper 14 has a circular periphery, the diameter of which isequal or substantially equal to the outside diameter of the tube 13. Theholder 11 is of one-piece construction and is preferably composed oftransparent plastic material. The holder 11 has a tubular portion 15open at one end 16 and joining an end wall 17 at its other end; Thetubular portion 15 is shown to be circular in cross section and theinside diameter of the tubular portion 15 is slightly greater than theoutside diameters of the head of the stopper 14 and of the tube 13. Ahub 18, disposed axially with respect to the tubular portion 15 and theend wall 17, is formed integrally with the end wall 17. The cannula 12,disposed axially of the holder 11, is securely held by the hub 18. Thetubular portion 15, the end wall 17, and the hub 18 are preferablymolded as a unit directly to the cannula 12. The cannula 12 has aflesh-piercing end 19 I adapted topierce the fleshof the donor duringthe making of a venepuncture and a stopper-piercing end 20 of anoncoring type adapted to pierce the stopper'14. The stopper 14 can becomposed of a molded elastomeric material which is selfsealing andcapable of holding the vacuum in the tube 13. The tube 13is preferablycomposed of glass. A conventional cannula sheath 21 is shown in FIG. 1,along with a temporary closure 22, both of which are removed when theassembly 10 is ready to be used.

Also formed during the molding of the holder 11 is a projection 23havingstopsurface 24. The projection 23 is shown to be integral with themarginal end of the inside of the tubular portion 15 and to be integralwith the marginal periphery of the endwall 17. The stop surface 24 isspaced from the end transparent at least in the region of its stopsurface 24. The stopper 14 is cored out as indicated at 26. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, the area of the terminal end of the stopper 14between I peripheral edge 27 and phantorn line 28, on either side of therecess 25, provides a stop surface 29. The projection 23 and theterminal end of the stopper 14 are stop portions which together form astop. This stop is effective when the cannula 12 has partiallypenetrated the stopper 14 as best shown in FIG. 3. In this position, theend 20 of the cannula 12 is sealed off by the stopper14because it hasonly partially penetrated the stopper, am yet the vacuum in the tube 13is not broken.

Ridges 30, formed integrally with the tubular portion 15 and disposedcloser to the end 16 than to the end wall 17, facilitate gripping of theholder by the user and also strengthen the holder 11. When theblood-collecting assembly 10 is ready to be used, the tube 13 and itsstopper 14 are moved through the open end 16 and into the space insidethe tubular tube-receiving portion 15. The stop surface 29 can bereadily visually alined with the stop surface 24, and the stop limitsthe movement of the tube 13 and its stopper 14 with respect to theholder 11 and cannula 12. The user now rotates the tube 13 and itsstopper 14 as a unit about marginal end 12' of the cannula 12, whichserves as a spindle, until the recess 25 is alined with the projection23, then grasps the holder 11 at ridges 30 I and makes the venepuncture.As the stop surface 24 of the I "projection 23 is alinedwith the recess:25, the user can apply I .force to the tube 13 to move the tube13 andits stopper 14 I relative to the holder 11 and cannula 12, therebyefiecting penetration of the end 20 of the cannula 12 the rest of theway I through the stopper 14 to the' position best shown in FIG. 4; in Ithis figure the entire terminal end including stop surface 29 of thestopper 14 is shown in abutment with the end wall 17. As communicationis established between the inside of the vein of the patient and theinside of the tube 13 through the cannula 12, blood flows into the tube13'. When the blood has been collected, the marginal end 12" of thecannula 12 can be withdrawn from the patient. Then the tube 13 and itsstopper 14 can be withdrawn from the holder 11 and its cannula 12.

In the event it is desired to take two or more samples of blood from thedonor, the end 19 is not removed from the donor's vein when the firstsample has been taken, but the tube 13 with its-stopper 14 are withdrawnfrom the holder 11. Immediately thereafter, a second tube with a likestopper is inserted into the holder 11 and is moved directly to theposition shown in FIG. 4. When the second sample has been collected inthe second tube, the second tube and its stopper are withdrawn from theholder 11. By this method, multiple blood samples can be taken eventhough only one venepuncture is made.

Referring to the embodiment of FIGS. 7, 8 and 9, there is shown analternative fonn of blood-collecting assembly generally indicated at10a. The assembly 10a is used in the same manner as the assembly 10 ofthe embodiment of FIGS. 1 through 6. A holder 11a and a stopper 14adiffer from the holder 11 and the stopper 1 4 in that a projection 30'formed on the end of the stopper 14 a has a stop surface 31 which iscapable of abutting the end or end wall 17a of the holder 11a when theprojection 30' is out of alinement with an arcuate interruption 32in'the end wall 17a. The end portion of the holder 11a provides a closedrecess or depression 33 into which the projection 30' can extend whenthe projection 30' is alined with the recess 33, as indicated by phantomlines 35. In use, a tube 13a and its stopper 14a are slid into theholder 1la,until stop surface 31 of the stopper projection 30' is inabutment with end wall 17a as shown in FIG. 7. The'reupon, the tube 130and its stopper 14a are rotated relative to cannula 12 and its holder11a until the projection 30' and the recess 33 are aligned. Thevenepuncture can now be made, and

' thereafter the tube 13a and its stopper 140 are moved relative to theholder 11a so that the projection 30' ismoved into the recess 33.Relative movement of the tube 13a and its stopper 14a are arrested whenstopper surface 36 abuts end wall 17a; when the stopper surface 36 andthe end wall 17a are in abutment, the stop surface 31 also abuts holdersurface 37. In this position communication is established between thedonors vein and the inside of the evacuated tube via cannula 12a.

Other embodiments and modifications of this invention will suggestthemselves to those skilled in the art, and all such of these ascomewithin the spirit of this invention are included within its scope asbest defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A blood-collecting assembly, comprising: a rigid, elongated,evacuated tube, a pierceable self-sealing stopper closing off one end ofsaid tube, said stopper having a head with a circular periphery, saidhead having a terminal end providing a stop surface, a recess in saidhead providing an interruption in said stop surface, a holder having around tube-receiving portion with a greater inside diameter than thediameter of said head to enable said tube and its stopper to be freelyinserted into said tube-receiving portion at any angular position, and acannula secured to said holder and having one marginal end extendinginto the space defined by said tube-receiving portion and terminating ata stopper-piercing end and another marginal end extending outwardly ofsaid holder and terminating at a flesh-piercing end, said holder havinga stop surface adjacent one end of said tube-receiving portion of saidholder, said holder stop surface being smaller than said recess, saidstop surfaces being disposed so that when they come into engagement witheach other, the opening in said one marginal end of said cannula issealed off by said stopper, said tube being rotatable relative to saidholder to aline said recess in said stopper and said holder stop surfaceso that said tube can be moved relative to said holder and cannula tomove said holder stop surface into said recess to enable saidstopperpiercing end to penetrate through said stopper so thatcommunication is established between said cannula and the inside of saidtube through said opening.

2. A blood-collecting assembly as defined in claim 1, wherein saidtube-receiving portion is tubular and is transparent at least in theregion of its stop surface.

3. A blood-collecting assembly, comprising: a rigid, elongated,evacuated tube having a pierceable self-sealing stopper closing off oneend, a holder having a tube-receiving portion, a cannula secured to saidholder and having one marginal end extending into the space defined bysaid tube-receiving portion and terminating at a stopper-piercing endand another marginal end extending outwardly of said holder andterminating at a flesh-piercing end, and a stop formed by a stop portionof said holder and a stop portion of said stopper, the maximum width ofsaid stopper being less than the minimum dimension of the openingprovided by said tube-receiving portion to enable said tube to be freelyinserted into said tube-receiving portion at any angular position, saidstop being effective before communication is established between saidcannula and the inside of said tube, said stop portions beingmisalignable by rotating said tube relative to said holder andthereafter moving said tube and its stopper toward said cannula toestablish communication between said cannula and the inside of saidtube.

4. A blood-collecting assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein said stopportion of said stopper is formed by the terminal end of said stopper,said stopper having a recess into which said stop portion of said holdercan be moved when said stop portions are misaligned.

5. A blood-collecting assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein said stopportion of said holder is in alinement with the bevel at theflesh-piercing end of said cannula to provide a bevel indicator.

6. A blood-collecting assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein saidtube-receiving portion is tubular in cross section.

7. A blood-collecting assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein said stopportion of said stopper is provided by a projection on the end of saidstopper, and said stop portion of said holder is formed by an end wallof holder.

8. A blood-collecting assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein saidholder is composed of transparent material to enable visual observationof said stop portions to facilitate easy alinement and misalignment ofsaid stop portions.

9. A blood-collecting assembly as defined in claim 3, wherein saidholder with its tube-receiving portion provides a container having anopening through which said tube can be inserted.

10. A blood-collecting assembly, comprising: an evacuated glass tube, apierceable self-sealing stopper closing off one end of said tube, saidstopper having a head with a circular periphery, said head having aterminal end providing a stop surface, a recess in said head at itsperiphery providing an interruption in said stop surface, a one-piecetransparent plastic holder having an end portion joined to a tubularportion, a cannula axially secured to said end portion and having onemarginal end extending into the space defined by said tubular portionand terminating at a stopper-piercing end and another marginal endextending outwardly from said holder and terminating at a flesh-piercingend, a projection in said holder having a stop surface spaced from saidend wall, said stopperpiercing end extending beyond said holder stopsurface so that when said stop surfaces are in engagement saidstopper-piercing end only partially penetrates said stopper, saidprojection stop surface being of smaller size than said recess so thatwhen said projection is alined with said recess said tube can be used toforce said stopper-piercing end the rest of the way through until saidstopper abuts said end wall.

11. A blood-collecting assembly as defined in claim 10, including meansformed integrally with the outer surface of said holder and remote fromsaid projection for (a) stiffening said tubular portion and for (b)facilitating gripping of said holder.

12. A blood-collecting assembly, comprising: a rigid, elongated,evacuated tube having a pierceable self-sealing stopper closing off oneend, said stopper having an outside diameter substantially equal to theoutside diameter of said tube, a holder having a tube receiving portion,a cannula secured to said holder and having one marginal end extendinginto the i 7 space defined by said tube-receiving portion andterminating at a stopper-piercing end and another marginal end extendingoutwardly of said holder and terminating at a flesh'piercing end, and astop formed by a stop portion of said holder and a stop portion of saidstopper, said tube and its stopper being freely insertable into saidtube-receiving portion at any angu

